Flipping the script: Where others fall, women ascend glass cliffs and win

President Joe Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris saw Google searches for glass cliff triple, and conversations around this loaded term are back in the headlines. But with Harris now leading in the polls, the vibe may be changing.

For many women, the news was first met with unease and suspicion. Her appointment bore the trademarks of the glass cliff phenomenon, where women are promoted to leadership positions during times of organizational crisis, increasing their risk of failure. Women have good reason to be wary of these scenarios: Studies show that in facing glass cliffs women are often knowingly set up to fail, perpetuating perceptions about female leaders’ limitations.

But as Harris’s nomination revives conversations around glass cliffs, many female leaders are now seizing on the moment to approach these discussions from more than one angle. Whereas the discourse often revolves around the systemic biases pushing women into high-risk situations, they’re reminding us that women also frequently ascend to these posts by their unique, hard-won capabilities—and that within no-win situations it’s the women who often do win.

To have successful careers, women, especially women of color, must embrace high-risk career paths from day one, welcoming precarious situations where their gender makes them hypervisible and subject to greater scrutiny. Through adversity, they sharpen skills crucial to navigating crises, including exceptional resilience, strategic thinking, and strong interpersonal skills. Far from being passively conned into accepting leadership roles, women know the risk tax they’re paying and their appointors know full well their singular capacity to pay it and succeed.

In this fraught moment, it’s paramount to consider lessons from the many women capably striding along the edge of glass cliffs: how they’re often winning and, in the process, actively rewriting the rules for how future women leaders will ascend to leadership positions.

Doomed to thrive

It’s important to be able to identify and assess a glass cliff, as well as to know how to avoid falling. It’s also critical to realize that walking into this scenario is often not in your best interest.

But it’s equally crucial to recognize that women’s continual struggle toward greater equality has frequently left them without the option of avoiding high-risk scenarios. And, at the same time, we must learn from those who take the job, flip the script, and pave the path forward.

Women have converted cliffs to runways because they’re uniquely capable leaders in times of crisis. Anecdotal evidence, data, and real-world examples back this up. Comparing pre- and post-pandemic studies, for example, research from Harvard Business Review concludes that women are better leaders during periods of turmoil.

Their effectiveness is thanks to a specialized skill set honed from continually facing unfair expectations and additional scrutiny.

The first of these special attributes is resilience. It’s the bedrock upon which other strengths are built. Beyond the inherited difficulties of a crisis, women on the glass cliff often face disproportionate scrutiny and doubt. For women and other underrepresented occupational groups, research indicates that failure or even lack of improvement tends to be attributed to personal failings rather than the situation.

Taking the reins in turbulent times requires immense resilience. Confronted by overwhelming challenges, leaders in these positions are often isolated, bearing the brunt of criticism for issues beyond their control. As they endure these pressures, they must maintain a singular focus on actionable solutions and a readiness to adapt.

Lamentably, women, particularly women of color, are well-accustomed to soldiering on in the face of formidable barriers. Through a history of systemic obstacles and underrepresentation, women leaders become keenly adept at overcoming the odds and shouldering accountability, while keeping a positive outlook and readiness to adapt. Not surprisingly, research finds that women are considered by their peers to be significantly more skilled at taking initiative, championing change, and agile learning during moments of crisis.

Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, is an example of this resilience. Assuming the role after a bankruptcy and a massive ignition switch recall, Barra was thrust into the global spotlight as the first female CEO of a major automaker. Though critics constantly viewed her decisions through the lens of gender, Barra deftly handled a public relations nightmare, implemented key strategic changes, and personally embodied a culture of accountability.

Steering GM to record-breaking profits, Barra’s resilience upended stereotypes and offers other women valuable lessons for what it means to boldly tread the glass cliff. Barra learned to embrace rather than downplay her identity as a female leader, reminding us that when women succeed where others can’t, their hypervisibility becomes an opportunity to inspire. Along a glass cliff, women must draw on a deep reservoir of unique experience and know that future women leaders are waiting and watching.

Both soft and hard skills

In a sometimes less flattering way, assumptions about women’s “feminine touch” and “intuition” for fixing things are also used in typical explanations for why women ascend glass cliffs. What is more empowering, however, is the fact that numerous studies also show that women in high-risk situations assert strengths in strategic and analytic thinking more effectively than men. While much is made of women’s soft skills, studies by neuroscientists conclude that when the pressure is on women are more likely to make data-driven, sure-bet decisions. More specifically, they score higher in categories measuring capacities for making decisions, driving results, establishing stretch goals, solving problems, and analyzing issues, according to studies by Harvard Business Review.

During challenging times, leaders must assess complex situations, perceive the interconnectedness of multiple factors, and develop effective action plans with limited resources. Having navigated marginalized identities, women (particularly of color) develop a keen understanding of complex social dynamics, which are critical skills for analytical decision-making. Constantly revalidating their competence sharpens their problem-solving skills, while frequent exclusion from informal networks and career-enhancing opportunities can endow women with unique resourcefulness.

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Iceland’s first female prime minister (from 2009 to 2013), entered office just after Iceland’s banking system collapsed. Its currency was dramatically devalued, unemployment had skyrocketed, protests erupted, and the country faced bankruptcy. An extremely capable critical thinker, Sigurðardóttir walked the glass cliff, working with the International Monetary Fund to fix the economy, stabilize the exchange rate, and restructure the banking sector. Her government shrewdly maneuvered to reduce the budget deficit while also making sure to protect essential public services.

Credited with saving Iceland’s economy, Sigurðardóttir’s glass cliff became a runway. She challenged stereotypes about women as primarily intuitive rather than analytical leaders and paved the path forward with initiatives such as gender budgeting and achieving a gender-balanced Cabinet. Her example reminds women to assert their capacities for strategic thinking in turbulent moments. In doing so, they make a powerful business case for gender equality and can redefine organizational culture.

Cliffside communication

Anne Mulcahy was appointed Xerox CEO in August 2001, with the company on the edge of bankruptcy. On the day she took her position, Xerox’s stock dropped by 15%. One month later, the 9/11 attacks triggered a global economic downturn.

As one of the few female CEOs of a major corporation, Mulcahy faced additional skepticism and pressure to take Xerox into Chapter 11. But if her appointers had been willing to let Mulcahy take the fall, they were also likely aware of her 25-year track record at Xerox for driving results through a people-centric approach that inspired and motivated her teams.

Mulcahy resisted pressure. She drew on a singular knack for effective communication and an ability to mix empathetic leadership with a firm hand. Mulcahy prioritized providing emotional support and two-way communication for employees reeling from the 9/11 tragedy and the strain of potential financial collapse. At the same time, she was honest and firm, telling them that they must either “roll up their sleeves and go to work or leave Xerox.”

The diverse social dynamics and workplace challenges that women are forced to maneuver throughout their careers further strengthen a level of emotional intelligence that research indicates is frequently distinct to women. Studies show that during times of crisis female leaders are more effective at inspiring and motivating, developing team members, and building relationships. When employees’ engagement levels are measured during tumultuous periods, those working for female leaders are significantly higher.

Mulcahy engineered an astounding turnaround that propelled Xerox back into a market leader position. She, too, provided a blueprint for other bold women leaders by using her role and influence during a crisis to champion diversity and inclusivity initiatives, firmly establishing Xerox as an industry leader in these critical areas.

While Mulcahy gives us one more story of how female leaders are uniquely equipped to win in no-win situations, her case also provides an especially powerful example for today’s historic moment and what it means when women turn the tables. Mulcahy won and forged a path forward with her boldness, competence, and commitment to future generations.

Mulcahy passed the reins to Ursula Burns, whom she had mentored, making Burns the first African American woman to lead an S&P 500 company. Burns also successfully led through crisis, guiding Xerox through the decline of its traditional printing business and diversifying its model into services.

There will be much more talk of glass cliffs in the next few months. Among female leaders, the message will be clear: We cannot and do not acquiesce to glass cliffs. But our capacity for turning high-risk precipices into springboards can teach the world a lot.